Fox Business Network shakes up daytime lineup starting Monday

After Fox Business Network canceled its entire primetime lineup in February, Zap2it has heard exclusively that, on Monday, April 23, FBN's daytime lineup will also get a shakeup.

While earlier reports had the details of the lineup changes, FBN held back the exact date until almost the last minute, perhaps to keep Wall Street on its toes. FBN airs live in Eastern time; adjust for your time zone.

As of Monday, Dennis Kneale joins Cheryl Casone (above) as co-host of the noon hour. Recent FBN hire Melissa Francis and Lori Rothman -- who was a guest in the "leg chair" on FNC's "RedEye W/Greg Gutfeld" last week -- will continue as co-hosts of the 1 p.m. hour, with the fiery Tracy Byrnes and British-born, Los Angeles-raised Ashley Webster taking over as hosts of the 2 p.m. slot.

Liz Claman, who recently celebrated her 1000th episode of "Countdown to the Closing Bell," remains at 3 p.m. closing out the market-hours coverage.

Time will tell whether these tweaks help FBN's ratings stock rise against longtime segment leader CNBC.

But, FBN did manage to top its chief rival for one hour for a whole week in both total viewers and younger viewers the first time in its 4 1/2-year life.

At the beginning of April, in the 7 p.m. ET hour, FBN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" beat CNBC's "The Kudlow Report" (which aired Monday-Thursday, with a CNBC documentary on Friday) by 18,000 total viewers. This win was especially sweet for FBN, considering CNBC is available in 99 million homes, while FBN is offered in 67 million homes.

Lou Dobbs came to FBN a little over a year ago after spending several years on CNN.